LUSAKA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian Cabinet has decided that the country should accede to the Water Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, a government spokesperson said Friday.
Acting Information and Media Minister Brenda Tambatamba said acceding to the convention would signal to the international community that Zambia was committed to international and transboundary water cooperation.
"Currently, Zambia is not a state party to the convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes. As a result of not being a state party to the convention, the country has weak transboundary and international water governance as well as weak international integrated water resources management, that could result in tensions and differences at regional and international levels," she said in a statement following a Cabinet meeting.
She added that the main purpose of the convention was to improve water governance at national, transboundary and international levels as well as implement integrated water resources management accordingly. She also said Cabinet also approved the ratification of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict which came into force on July 12, 2002.
The government spokesperson said the decision was in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which requires all state parties to take appropriate action to protect children from vices of armed conflict and use in hostilities.
According to her, Zambia signed the protocol on Sept. 29, 2008, and was one of the remaining eight countries that have signed but not yet ratified the protocol. ■